It is getting to be that time of year that your body is craving sunlight and you want to get out of the house! In general, Wisconsin winters are long, cold and you have probably been cooped up to the point that you may be having difficulty concentrating, feeling lethargic or even feeling on edge. However, there are ways to combat getting to that point of restlessness and St. Camillus is extremely proactive in preventing these feelings. Here are a couple of strategies that we utilize in our Life Plan Community to prevent “snow rage.”

Stay Active: You probably already get a weekly reminder from someone in your life or a medical professional, but we can’t stress enough how important staying physically active is your for mental and overall health. At St. Camillus, we are proud to have a wide variety of fun, fitness classes including steady steps, hustle & muscle, yoga, tai chi, and walking groups. Even if you don’t like to participate in group classes, you can always come down on your own time to use one of many exercise machines and free weights. If you are worried about not having enough knowledge to engage in safe physical fitness, we have a full time personal trainer and wellness director, Emily Lopez that is here to help you!

Keep your mind moving: Opposite of physical fitness, let’s talk about mental fitness. Mental fitness is just as important and helps keep your mind sharp and assists with the ability to solve problems! There are a variety of ways to keep your mind sharp. At St. Camillus continuing education is vital to the life enrichment program. We offer educational classes including Italian, German, French, Spanish, and Shakespeare. It is important to note when we say “Italian” it is not strictly learning a new language. It is learning about the Italian culture, food, architecture, holidays and phrases! We also offer lectures on an assortment of topics such as the Peace Corps, different health presentations and poetry.

Curl up with a good book and let your imagination run wild: Whether you have a preference to history, romance, thrillers, murder mysteries or just like reading the most up to date magazines and newspapers, the St. Camillus Library has something for you! Come and cozy up by the fireplace in San Camillo with good reading material and see how you can be transported into a completely different world. Let’s face it, sometimes you just need to pretend that you are somewhere else and reading is a phenomenal outlet to allow yourself to do that.

Start a NEW hobby and challenge yourself: A great way to pass time is to start a new hobby and St. Camillus has one for YOU! We are proud to say that our life enrichment program has so many activities that you could join and we guarantee to have something that would cater to your preferences. Whether it is crocheting, writing group, poetry readings, Bible study, volunteering, card making groups, poker games, or educational courses—you will not get bored!

Eat up Time and learn a new game: Last, but certainly not least, are games. At St. Camillus, there are a variety of groups that meet to play cribbage, gin rummy, poker, sheepshead and more. We also encourage residents to start groups and teach new games.